The Write Way Café welcomes author Keith Steinbaum, who shares his interesting inspiration for You Say Goodbye.

In author interviews I’ve read, one particular topic that usually gets mentioned is the origin of the idea behind their story.As a reader I value this starting line information as it provides me a greater appreciation for development of theme, characters, and plot.From something as common as a remark on the radio or observing people waiting for a bus, to something greater in complexity such as the sights and sounds of a foreign country, something ignited that creative circuitry for a story.For me, learning about that is akin to being privy to a secret.

I’ve written two novels, The Poe Consequence and You Say Goodbye, and although there’s a definite building block history with The Poe Consequence that I’d like to share one day, because of the earlier timetable for its release with Black Opal Books, I’ll describe the origins of You Say Goodbye, starting with an intended cursory glance at the obituary section of the Los Angeles Times.

Other than with the passing of a family member, friend, or, perhaps a celebrity, I wouldn’t think most newspaper readers care to look at this section.Back when I subscribed to the Times for daily delivery I occasionally perused the obits because sometimes I’d discover lives that were not only interesting, but downright fascinating.And as fate would have it, on a particular summer day in 2004, I decided to scan the obituary section.Unbeknownst to me, the genesis for You Say Goodbye was about to occur.

A photo taking up nearly half the page showed a sweet looking little round faced girl sitting at a table under a large hand painted banner reading, ‘Alex’s Lemonade Stand.’The unusual sight of a child immediately drew my attention, and as I read the article my emotions fluctuated from interest to amazement, all the while permeated with a profound sense of sadness.

Alexandra Scott suffered from a form of cancer, and starting at the age of four she decided she wanted to sell lemonade to raise money for childhood cancer research.Starting with that one front yard lemonade stand at her home in a Philadelphia suburb, Alex’s Lemonade Stands grew to be located in all fifty states, Canada, and parts of Europe.She died at eight years old.

I hadn’t heard of this charity, so her life story was new to me.I cut the photo out of the paper and taped it on my office wall as a reminder that whatever bad days I think I’m having, they aren’t really all that bad are they?I’d look at her photo often, sometimes talking to it as a source of strength.And it was months later that I started to piece the idea of a story together knowing that I wanted a starring character patterned after Alexandra Scott.But how?

I eventually decided that the best way to utilize her inspiration was to contrast her courage and appreciation for life with an adult who complained a lot and felt his best days were behind him.That’s my beef with adults I observe sometimes, bitching about things that in the big picture are petty; the slow line in a bank or supermarket, the summer heat, slow internet service, etc. in comparison to things that are truly important – like one’s health! So while searching for that adult character, I looked at my own life, at my own occasional complaints, and thought back to my days as a song lyricist when frustration often left me feeling bitter about the state of things.And that’s how my down-on-life-one-hit-wonder-ex-rock-n’-roll-star was born.

Eventually realizing that the story needed something more than the effect of two diverse characters on each other’s lives, a murder mystery started coming into focus.Books of this genre that I’ve enjoyed reading definitely went into influencing my thinking such as Dennis Lehane’s series of Kenzie/Gennaro PI stories, and The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins.After all, the more meat-on-the-bones material an author provides the better the chance for an intriguing story.It was at this stage that I see-sawed from a years long back and forth between a full novel, to a novella, (working title, Mr. Music and the 14th Laker) to another novella (same title) back to the desire to write a full novel again.

As with The Poe Consequence, I write with the intent of offering more than just a one-dimensional angle.With the element of a unique and consequential human interaction between two vastly different individuals, a story within a story, my goal was to give the reader more than the entertaining challenge of a whodunit murder mystery.For those who read You Say Goodbye, they’ll know if I succeeded.

About Keith:

After graduating college from UCSB, I set my sights on becoming a professional song lyricist after many years of writing poetry. Had I known through the haze of my naiveté and post college optimism what a difficult task this was to accomplish as a career goal, I would have focused on my other alternative of disc jockeying somewhere. I spent a couple years doing middle of the night work at the college station playing rock ‘n roll for those few listeners either partying or working night shifts, and I had about a hundred resume cassette tapes ready to send. I’ve occasionally wondered where this would have led me had I decided on this course for my career, but as it turns out, although I did have song on a popular album in America, and other songs recorded in a number of foreign markets, I wasn’t able to make a living as a lyricist and moved on into the field of landscape. But my creative writing flame continued to burn. Understanding that idea took time to realize through initial bouts of unhappiness lasting several years. But once I started focusing on poetry again, that’s where I rediscovered the untethered freedom and joy of writing without monetary goals.

Fast forward to an eventual desire to write a novel, culminating in the completion of The Poe Consequence. As a buildup to the idea for the book, my landscape job entailed years of working in many low-income housing projects throughout Southern California, and, consequently, many neighborhoods with gang problems. This experience played a major role in formulating the concept for my story. Originally self-published, this past June I signed a contract with Black Opal Books for it’s re-release next summer. In the future I’d like the opportunity to delve further into all the ingredients that factored into the creation of the book but I’m certainly gratified for receiving valued blogger reviews on sites such as Amazon and Goodreads, as well as other accolades.

Winner of Books-and-Authors.net’s Book of the Year in the Supernatural Thriller genre, the novel also made the 2015 Kirkus Reviews Books of the Year issue. And in 2017, it received a Finalist placing in the international Book Excellence Awards competition.

I’ve also signed a publishing deal with Black Opal Books for my second novel entitled, You Say Goodbye, a Beatles themed whodunit murder mystery revolving around the search for a renowned serial killer. Although it’s my second novel, the book will be my first with Black Opal Books, and will be ready for release in the early part of 2019. The story prominently features a one-hit wonder ex-rock star and a little girl with cancer who's a big fan of the L.A. Lakers. The child's character was inspired by the life, and unfortunate death, of Alexandra Scott from the Alex's Lemonade foundation. The release date has yet to be determined, but most likely in early 2019.

Abbie
Rose Stone’s acquired wisdom runs deep, and so do her scars. She has
successfully navigated the shoals of a long marriage, infertility,
challenging children, and a career. Now it’s her turn to realize her
dream: producing hard apple cider along the northern shores of Lake
Michigan that she loves. She manages to resist new versions of the old
pull of family dynamics that threaten to derail her plan―but nothing can
protect her from the shock a lovely young stranger delivers when she
exposes a long-held secret. In the wake of this revelation, Abbie must
overcome circumstances that severely test her self-determination, her
loyalties, and her understanding of what constitutes true family. AmazonIndieboundBarnes & NobleBARBARA STARK-NEMON is the author of the award-winning first novel, Even in Darkness.
She lives, writes, cycles, swims, does fiber art, and gardens in Ann
Arbor and Northport, Michigan. After earning her undergraduate degree in
English Literature and Art History and a Masters in Speech-language
Pathology from the University of Michigan, Barbara enjoyed a teaching
and clinical career working with deaf children. Barbara writes novels,
short stories, and essays. Visit her online at: WebsiteFacebook@bstarknemon

The Write Way Café welcomes Barbara Stark-Nemon, who brings a broad interest in life and family to her books, including her latest, Hard Cider.

When did you first have the thought you'd like to write a book?
I had taken refuge at my great aunt’s home in Germany at a troubled time in my own life. We were standing in her dining room, and I asked her about a painting that didn’t fit in with the serene antique and light-filled ambience of the room. I knew about my aunt’s life from years of her brother, my grandfather’s admiring stories about her. I asked her how she’d managed to survive her horrendous experiences during WWII, lose so many people, and still remain the witty, glass-half-full person she always appeared to be. She replied “The mouth laughs, and the heart cries.” I knew right then I had a book to write. That became Even in Darkness.

What was your path to getting Hard Cider written and published? What type of research did you do?
After I published Even in Darkness, I had some interest from a “big five” editor, but when I submitted Hard Cider, she passed. I realized that I’d gotten such a feeling of agency and support in the publishing process for Even in Darkness from She Writes Press that I didn’t want to give that up to seek a “traditional” publication path. Having the community of She Writes sisters has been invaluable, and having a publishing team who are so experienced and well regarded in the publishing community has been invaluable. I love the research part of writing my books. For Hard Cider, I traveled to New Hampshire and to northern Michigan and visited/interviewed some of the premier cider makers in both places. I’d also fallen in love with hard cider during a year I lived in England a long time ago. I also did a lot of research into surrogacy, which is a major plot element in the book.

Where did the idea for Hard Cider come from?
I like to call Hard Cider a “what if” book. What if some of the experiences in my own life had happened very differently? I also guess I wasn’t done with the concept of a strong multidimensional woman having to overcome unexpected challenges with dignity and self-determination. That thematic element connects the heroines of both my novels. I also have thought a lot about how we form families— who are automatically our family and who do we make into family? And then there was that year I spent living in England and getting to know a lot about hard apple cider!

Why did you pick the setting you did?
I’m a born and bred Michigan girl! My absolute favorite place to be is in the northwest corner of the state on the shores of Lake Michigan, and it’s covered with vineyards and fruit orchards. There’s a burgeoning hard cider industry in Michigan so that made the choice of setting easy.

Are your main characters completely imaginary or do they have some basis in real people? Do they reflect aspects of yourself?
Some are entirely imaginary, and others are hybrids of people I know. My main character, Abbie Rose, has some interests (knitting, running, growing things) that I do, and has to contend with some life experiences that I know a thing or two about, but then that “what if” concept kicks in. Abbie’s life departs significantly from mine! Did you face any blocks while writing the book, and if so, how did you handle them?
One significant challenge was shifting from the very literary, European, historical fiction voice of Even in Darkness to the more contemporary voice in Hard Cider. I got stuck at one point on a significant plot point, and also needed to incorporate a mystery element into the narrative, which I’d never done before. In all these cases, my wonderful writer’s group helped me get past the obstacles. What have been surprises you've encountered while writing the book and after?
One surprise is how deeply early readers have responded to my creation of the northern Michigan setting. I love that! In researching infertility, I was amazed at how the landscape of the way we form families has changed in the last thirty years. Family laws, medical technology advances, and changing social norms have truly changed our concepts about families.

What did you learn? For instance, what did you learn about yourself, your process, the writing world; about producing hard apple cider, and family dynamics?
Wow, I could write (and have!) several articles about all that I’ve learned. These are great questions and go to the heart of why I love being a writer. I have learned that what I put into my books is very important to me— artistically and emotionally. But then I have to put that aside and open myself up to what readers experience and express, which may be very different. I learn so much from my readers. It’s an element of being in the writing world that I hadn’t thought much about.

I had great fun learning about producing hard apple cider! People who do this are a whole world unto themselves, and I loved being able to join in.

Family dynamics? Abbie Rose has to contend with quite a bit in Hard Cider. We all have family dynamics, and what I wanted to feature is how a woman reconciles her dream for an encore career with her complicated family.

Tell us about your writing space and how or why it works for you.
My absolute favorite writing space is in a comfortable chair overlooking Lake Michigan—in all seasons! I also often work at a desk, in my office looking out into a pine treetop. I need quiet and a block of time to write and am lucky to have spaces where I can get both. What are some of your favorite books and why?
Some of my early favorites were Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I loved the dreamy quirky kids and the sense of place in the natural world in each of them. I learned a lot about people from those books and the magic of a good book. Some of my favorite authors as an adult have been A.S. Byatt (Possession), Mark Helprin (A Winter’s Tale) and Anthony Doerr (All the Light We Cannot See) I’m entranced by a whiff of magical realism, historical novels, and lush writing!

What are you working on now? Would you like to try your hand at writing a different genre? Which one and why?
I’ve just started researching and writing a new novel (or maybe a novella?) about a 14 year-old embroideress who has to find her way from Inquisition-era Portugal to Germany to reunite with her father. She’s assisted by an older woman who is an herbalist and healer. This may be a YA or New Adult book… another genre hop for me, but does go back to historical fiction which was Even in Darkness’s genre. I write the stories that demand to be written, regardless of genre… If you were not a writer, what would your dream job be?
Writing is my dream job! And my second one… I had a long wonderful first career working with children with communication disorders.

What aspect of writing gives you the most trouble?
Carving out the space and time to do it!

Who is your favorite hero/heroine?
Sorry, can’t pick just one … but here’s the dedication to Hard Cider — it speaks to my heroines everywhere…

To Everywoman- maker and keeper of families—especially when it isn’t easy…

Abbie Rose Stone’s acquired wisdom runs deep, and so do her scars. She has successfully navigated the shoals of a long marriage, infertility, challenging children, and a career. Now it’s her turn to realize her dream: producing hard apple cider along the northern shores of Lake Michigan that she loves. She manages to resist new versions of the old pull of family dynamics that threaten to derail her plan―but nothing can protect her from the shock a lovely young stranger delivers when she exposes a long-held secret. In the wake of this revelation, Abbie must overcome circumstances that severely test her self-determination, her loyalties, and her understanding of what constitutes true family.

BARBARA STARK-NEMON is the author of the award-winning first novel, Even in Darkness. She lives, writes, cycles, swims, does fiber art, and gardens in Ann Arbor and Northport, Michigan. After earning her undergraduate degree in English Literature and Art History and a Masters in Speech-language Pathology from the University of Michigan, Barbara enjoyed a teaching and clinical career working with deaf children. Barbara writes novels, short stories, and essays. Visit her online at: WebsiteFacebook@bstarknemon